Adventures In The Razor Trade Part II - The Magical Manslaughter Edition & More Judge's Guild Memories

I was back in Connecticut after my trip to the U.K., and it was 1990 something. My prospects were pretty good and things were looking up but game wise it was White Wolf's rise to the top of the heap. I joined in but there was still a part of Ct. where OD&D was king. Back then I learned very quickly that there were two types now frequenting Connecticut's hobby shops, those into collectible card games and Warhamster 40K ( the game was changing even back then as Old Hammer  will understand). players. Many parents were using the hobby shops here as baby sitting services. So times were changing, back then I used to drive between Ct. and Boston. I had a pretty good job but back then I did odd jobs to supplement my income. I got into the bibliophile trade and it was through that I found the second part of the OD&D scene in the Northwest Hills of Litchfield county here. 

Please forget anything you might have seen in the film The Nine Gates. The book trade is nothing like that & I've never met anyone like Johnny Depp in the trade. Instead I acquired some very cool and interesting friends and a mentor who taught me a thing or two about life,writing,movies, television and again the book trade. He and his husband lived in Torrington,Ct. He was a retired screen writer and one of the most interesting folks I've ever met. He wanted an assistant and so I filled in on some weekends. He taught me the book trade and I went to horror Cons to do some go between work for them. Got to meet the cast of the film Hellraiser once or twice, Clive Barker, met Forrest Ackerman, Elvira, Bruce Campbell and others. But some weekends I would go off to Manchester which had not one but three hobby shops. I had friends with whom I could crash and spend the whole weekend 'gaming'. Fridays were 'anime night' and I caught some of the classics back then. The place where this used to happened has long since closed. 

 

Back before the real strangle hold of the internet, Connecticut had a more thriving book trade, I had a pretty solid client list of folks who were looking for old books and the like. Of course like all things, Ebay came along and pretty solidly wiped out the book trade in Connecticut. But not before I found a very nice book collector who happened to be a veteran war gamer and had a very nice stable of  players. Did I mention the sand table? Yeah it looks something like this. No this is simply a picture of a very nice set up of a sand table found in a Google search. Harry's group of players happened to be right in my backyard in Litchfield county. 

But in addition to the sand table, Harry has been running a Grey Hawk campaign since the late 70's. He's a Vet and his sons are American veterans of the Gulf War, Iraq,etc. I got the man a couple of pieces and he asked me to run an old Judge's Guild adventure. Under The Storm Giant's Castle is a strange adventure and crawl and it went down very well. The plot goes something like this, A truly unique dungeon adventure set inside a magic cloud: a Storm Giant has built his stronghold on it, but his son was kidnapped by a worm-creature that vanished into the cloud, and the players are offered great rewards to rescue him. . Intelligent monsters are given names and certain characteristics, and devilish traps and innovations are scattered here and there: a tornado within the cloud that takes characters from level to level without injury, and eleven new "miscellaneous magic" artifacts.

Reading through it again was a pretty interesting experience.Its a very fun crawl and with the right group of players its  a real blast of an adventure.



I looked on Drivethru and Under The Storm Giant's Castle is still available right
HERE

And Now For The Hellish
Mayhem 

Let me rewind this a bit and back up to the late 80's and the 'Satanic Panic' and Splatterpunk scene of the late Eighties.So frequently I've been asked why none of the Lamentations of Flame Princess material, Venger Satanis's adventures, or any of the other material of the other independent OSR publishers offends me? Well back in 1987, there was a comic book artist and writer team that came up with a comic book right in the middle of the psychotronic slasher horror film craze. Faust Love of the Damned is a blood splattered X rated hell ride that has something to offend everyone. I makes Spawn look like Sunday school and is sure to rile every do gooder around. And if your offended then you miss the point, Faust is a parody of everything that was wrong with late 80's and 90's comic books in spades. AND NO THIS ISN'T SAFE FOR WORK AND ADULTS ONLY. You can see more right over HERE 

So right in the middle of all of this blood letting and what not Mayfair produced the Demons Box sets I & II. Doesn't she look familiar? And yes frequently the comics inspired some very twisted and interesting games of  OD&D and AD&D  first edition. Needless to say that not only didn't anyone die in real life but a few lives were saved actually. More often then not some friends over the years have gotten the help that they needed. 

At its core D&D is a game about heroes and your party is playing them. That sometimes means that there is a great deal of darkness surrounding them. Your PC's have to rise to the occasion and sometimes they're changed by it for better or worse. But in the end its only a game. You put the pieces of paper down, the dice back, and go one with normal life. And if your very lucky you get to get together with friends for another game session next week or month. None of it is real as long as the situations and what not are kept within the bounds of a game. That's all it ever is, a comic book, piece of artwork, game,etc. None of it is real. Real life is about as real as it gets.
For me the material doesn't offend me at all. Real life offers more then enough horrors beyond the bounds of any game that makes anything I've seen in a game material  pale by comparison. Splatterpunk, horror movies, Hellraiser, etc. including this material have opened my eyes up to the real world horrors that inspired the material. But its also given me a much greater understanding of the motives and ideals of the creators of it as well. And more then mere tolerance or  latitude for the people that play the games but friend as well as family that are still a part of my life. For that we'll get to part three soon.

Note- I've mixed up a ton of details here between the Eighties,Nineties, and beyond to protect the privacy of friends and family. Its called authors prerogative and I'm taking full advantage of it. All material remains the trade mark and copyright of the holders. No violation is meant here. This blog entry is for entertainment and educational purposes only. If the material or my view point offends you then don't read it. Thank you. If you are having issue with depression and trauma within your life please call or  visit the suicide prevention hotline website
HERE  or Call 24/7  1-800-273-8255

You are not alone and there people out there to help you. 

Portals of Twilight (1981) From Judges Guild For AD&D First Edition And Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaigns

Portals of Twilight has had a ton of table top time in my campaigns. This is one of my favorite modules from Judge's Guild because its vastly different to many of the other fantasy material out on the market in 1981.
This module was one of my first brushes with a science fantasy setting that allowed a number of alien races, weird backdrop elements, strange monsters and PC's to interact in one solid setting. 

My players over the years have found themselves on 'Half World' over and over again. There are a number of things that can kill you if your not careful. Portals of Twilight has more to deal with the Judge's Guild difference then it has to do with the sum of its parts. 

This book is part setting book, part adventure, and part weird dimensional journey to a strange world on another plane. 

Grab It Right Over
HERE

  Portals of Twilight by Rudy Craft is a very interesting module because like others in the Portal series, this Judge's Guild product deals with not simply with a few science fantasy elements but an entire world setting of it for AD&D first edition. Portals of Twilight isn't that well known outside of rpg and D&D  collector circles, the OSR, Judge's Guild fanatics and others of  an old school persuasion.
 This blurb from Wayne's Books sums up the entire portals line - 

"Through a shimmering portal to... where? A new world beckons all would-be adventurers to strange and sometimes sinister encounters ending either in death to the unlucky or great riches to the fortunate. Which will you be?"

 I actually love this adventure and I've run it time and time again over the years for AD&D first edition. It presents a half world and some strong science fantasy elements for its setting. 

According to Drivethrurpg: 

Journeys of wonder and magic will be experienced when the Portals are traveled again in this newest release in the Portals series. Portals of Twilight is set on the planet, Halfworld; it is a world similar to our moon, half light and half shadow, with only a narrow strip of land that is habitable. This twilight region has evolved varied types of creatures which are accustomed to the climate. North Pole City can be visited also, as it is the center of learning and culture on Halfworld. Multiple encounters are given, as well as other major points of interest and new monster types. 48 pages of adventure in the classic Judges Guild style by the great Rudy Kraft. I know what your thinking who the heck is Rudy Craft? And why if your into old school role playing does the name sound so familiar? 

Well Mr.Craft is partially responsible for my other love of my role playing life Chaosium's Rune Quest. His fingerprints are all over that game and a good chunk of my old school hobby.
According to Wiki: 

Steve Perrin and Rudy Kraft designed the RuneQuest (1978) mythical fantasy roleplaying game, set in the world ofGlorantha created by Greg Stafford, and published by Chaosium.^[1]:398 Judges Guild's first publication after obtaining the license for RuneQuest was Kraft's Broken Tree Inn (1979), an adventure that featured material cut from Chaosium's own Snake Pipe Hollow (1979), although the Glorantha references were removed in the Judges Guild publication.^[1]:68 Kraft and Paul Jaquays' Adventures Beyond the Pass, originally intended for Judges Guild, was never published by them; Greg Stafford instead published it through Chaosium as Griffin Mountain (1981).^[1]:68 Kraft also contributed to Chaosium's Thieves' World (1981).^[1]:85 Kraft was one of the contributors to Flying Buffalo's Citybook II: Port O' Call (1984)

Back to Portals of Twilight, I was running a campaign with several friends down in Manchester Ct,back in 1990 something. The deal was that we were playing mercs going from plane to plane for work. Something akin to The Black Company books,The Thieves World series, and a solid mix of Judge's Guild old school goodness.
There were six adventurers and we needed a place for the party to land. Well at three dollars Portals of Twilight presented a solid world to ground the characters in. There were elements of alie

n and yet some very familiar concepts from science fiction and fantasy. The Half World concept is one straight out of the imagination of Stanley G. Weinbaum but repurposed for the Portals of Twilight adventure.

But is it a good investment today? Well with old school AD&D gonzo goodness like Bloody,Bloody,Arduin's campaign setting by Dave Hargrave. This is a perfect companion piece. The adventure presents an interesting set of challenges for a party and it also has been a base of operations for PC's in the past. With the continuation of adventures like The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence by Venger Satanis, Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Carcosa setting, several of the Mutant Future campaign settings. I can easily see this adventure being adapted over and over again. Judge's Guild's universal system makes adapting this one a snap. Do I recommend it? And is it still relavant to old school gaming? Yes I believe so and there are several really nicely done bits in this adventure that I will be using soon. More on that as it happens! 

Adventures In The Razor Trade - Judge's Guild's Inferno or Let's Offend Everybody The Tour Guide Edition

In nineteen eighty one or eighty two I learned the hard way about LGBT issues when one of my soon to be best friends lay on a street corner in my home town with his lights punched in. His face was bloody and I found him after the fact of the beating. 

Rick was the kid's name and I brought him home, we only lived a couple of streets away. We (my family) took him up the emergency room and called his folks.
He's about twelve at the time and being what was called a latch key kids we had a ton in common. This led me to the reintroduction of D&D and AD&D in the 80's. 
Becoming best friends was pretty much a given because I was going to St.Peter's school and he Vogal Wetmore which at the time was actually two grammar schools. And it was a time of very painful lessons.
 This all led to us walking home after school protecting each other in a gauntlet of 'Lord of The Flies' style dodges of avoiding bullies and bloody noses. Its amazing what happens when two friends, hook up and begin watching each other's backs.
Words like 'faggot', and the usual variety of children's vulgarities left its mark on both of us. The pecking order of bullying and fighting gave me a very clear survival instinct for family and friends.
Busted ribs and stitches were not on the menu for us anymore. Each day we would walk past Laraia's smoke shop which at the time was on the corner of the main downtown street.
So one day we're zipping down one day and there was a Judge's Guild module for 2.00 or 3.00 dollars.Maybe even a dollar. 

Just look at that cover! What kid was going to pass this up!Laraia's smoke shop  carried at the time a variety of board games, war games, and D&D products including AD&D first edition. But they weren't the only place in town there was a full service book shop downtown but the name escapes me and for years they also carried AD&D and Runequest titles but never JG material. They were far more, well upscale might be the wrong word but that's what it felt like at the time.


A bit about Torrtington might be in order.
I grew up in a former blue collar manufacturing town whose glory by then was and has faded fast. Bled dry by a numerous economic and political climate issues that have never been resolved despite years and years of broken promises.
It's still a town that needs help badly.  You know the type folks these days.
And this all comes down to a flash forward, ten or fifteen years later, I'm burying my best friend and brother in a hole in the ground surrounded by our friends,family, and his other half. A.I.D.s is full swing still cutting through swaths of Litchfield's Hills LGBT community with no end in sight. It was really the first time I had to mourn a friend (but not the last), and hell to this day I'm still mourning. And before you ask, we were brothers never an item.
And we all deal with sadness in our own way. I was going to a 'Christian' high school at the time and then on to college later. But what  I  really wanted was out of the North West Hills of Connecticut.

 
 
And I got my chance in spades when I got to go on a high school  'missionary' conference to London. Pass port, bags packed, and one flight later  I'm in London town for the first time. And we've got a 'Christian' tour of the U.K. Sweet Jesus what a joke this was, I and the other students ditched the conference and tour every chance we got and headed off into the English countryside. For them it was the pubs but for me it was the hobby shops and the back alley independent comic shops. 
Places like the Traveling Man in New Castle, and any number of back town and village  comic shops and highers. Independent places that are no longer in the U.K. and its here that I made some of my most valuable contacts in gaming. Other obsessive/compulsive types who school me in  the myth,magic, and majesty of OD&D and the Runequest rpg. And the first time I heard the whole of OD&D's tradition and real use with Judge's Guild products. I also got to know White Dwarf magazine and its ties with the grand old game.
In a quiet little back room of a comic book and magick shop in a sleepy village. I met two dungeon mistresses (witches) who brought out a copy of Judge's Guild's Inferno. And here's where things get really interesting. You see Inferno is strongly connected with the West Coast tradition of D&D and Bloody,Bloody ,Arduin. It follows Dante as much as Disney follows the tradition fairy tales they supposedly  animate.
In Bloody, Bloody, Arduin tradition there are twenty one planes of blackest Hells. These range from dead planets with incredibly deadly atmospheres to worlds filled with nuked out cities. You can find more about the demons of Arduin right over HERE


You see Judge's Guild material didn't simply use cheesy artwork because it was cheap(because it was) but because it emulates another American tradition that the creators of these games also were influenced by. American sci fi comic books from the 30's thru 70's. 

I've seen a ton of arguments and counter arguments about the use of Christian and religious this & that. It never came up when I played this module with these two wonderful ladies. Because the game I sat in on was about the recovery of the soul of a PC who had vital information that the party needed from Hell's of Inferno.
There were seven high level AD&D PC's in that game and they had a very difficult time. You see that module was intended as a wilderness crawl that was influenced more by issues of 60's and 70's  Dr. Strange then by Dante. But I can hear the howls for blood already from the wilderness from over my shoulders. But why not use that infamous series of articles by Ed Greenwood and Robert E. Moore from Dragon magazine #75 and on? Oh I sure do love those articles, in fact to this day I keep a spare couple of Dragons with them under plastic. But those wonderful articles also present an issue. Those wonderful articles that lay bare the entire cosmology of the Hells for everyone to read about and takes away a dozen shades of mystery from the palette of the DM. Those are articles that every player of the game can recite chapter and verse from to this very day. The ones that served as a bridge gap into the Monster Manual II?
I loved them as much as the next DM and in fact more because by using them players have gotten dozens and dozens of PC's killed over the years. 

But this wasn't the first brush with the Hells over the years in the pages of Dragon there were other articles that set off the Satanic panic before this one. This just happened to have been the gasoline issue to the fire!

But is there room enough for both Hells in the multiverse? Sure there is and more; old school comic books not Dante provides the answer to this. There are literally thousands of devils and demons all claiming to be the one 'true' Satan, Devil,etc. whatever in the pages of comic books, movies, horror novels, in pop culture.
Should the players have the answers to the questions about the 'true' nature of Hell? Even the fictional damned and undead don't have the answers to this. And getting a soul out of the underworld is never easy for resurrection but that comes with its own risks. Which we'll cover next time. 

You can find the updated version of the Inferno right over HERE
I haven't read the new updated version of Inferno from Spell book games and there are a few free resources for it including a monster book HERE

I have no affliction with Geoffrey O'Dale other then he wrote for Judge's Guild one of my favorite adventures. Incidentally another old friend of mine wrote one of the definitive guides to Dantian Hells.
Nigel Finley wrote for Mayfair Games a great box set called 'To Hell and Back'. It also contradicts both the Judge's Guild material, Dragon, and Dante in some spots.

This one's for Rick and those who plum the depths of the Abyss.
Next more U.K. memories, goat men, Rune Quest, Games Workshop, Goths, and Clive Barker! Coming up in part II of Adventures In The Razor Trade.